The present invention relates broadly to the utilization of spring biased hinge pins to facilitate mounting of one or more doors on a cabinet and more particularly to an improved construction having particular utility for use in a coin operated locker or cabinet, wherein it is desired to prevent unauthorized removal of doors by manipulation of their hinge mechanism.
Heretofore, it has been proposed to provide a door or other closure with a hinge mounting assembly incorporating spring biased hinge pins. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,778,932 discloses a hinge mounting assembly of this type, wherein a handle is fixed to each hinge pin to permit manual retractions thereof for door mounting/removal purposes.
A cabinet door having removable hinge pins normally hidden from view by such door is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 4,190,929.
It has also been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,612 to provide a locked cabinet door with concealed hinge pins to which access may be gained for door removal purposes. In accordance with a first form of the invention disclosed by this patent, doors can not be removed by a custodian for replacement purposes, regardless of whether they are in open or closed condition, without first dismantling a frame portion of the cabinet carrying all of the doors. In a second form of such invention, door supporting hinge bars are adapted to be removably fixed to the cabinet by means of common screws whose heads are made accessible upon movement of their associated doors into open position. Each form of the invention described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,612 possesses certain disadvantages for use in both general cabinet and coin operated locker cabinet constructions. Thus, a drawback of the first form is the requirement that the cabinet be formed with a separate frame or grid for carrying all of the doors; a separate, exposed hinge for mounting the separate frame on the cabinet to afford access to the individual door hinges; and a separate lock for retaining the frame in a closed or use position. A drawback of the second form is that the screws mounting the respective doors are easily seen and rendered accessible for unauthorized door removal purposes, whenever any door is in an open/unlocked condition.